"Hairdressing school [in Denmark] is four years long. It's crazy, but that's how I got my start in the beauty industry. Working in beauty was always the goal, but I knew I didn't just want to be a hairdresser. So after hairdressing school, I went to makeup school for a year. It was so bad—I remember I brought in a picture of Kate Moss from an old campaign, and she had this smoky eye, and one of the teachers said, 'Oh, it's done completely wrong!' Like, really? It's Vogue. I was confident that I could do good makeup, but I needed to learn how to do makeup that photographers wanted.

I started working with a hairdresser because I was cutting all of my girlfriends' hair anyway, and that's how I started working with models and photographers. For a time, I was primarily a hair artist—but in Denmark, we did both [hair and makeup]. I got tired of the work because you had to be best friends with the models, and flirt with the photographers... It was too much for me. That's when I started thinking about editorial. I had a job interview with a Danish magazine, total coincidence, and they asked me if I ever thought about being a beauty editor. I was like, 'Yes!' They rang me two days later because their beauty editor had quit and asked if I wanted to come for a talk. Then I just threw it all out and went there. I remember my agent was like, 'Are you fucking crazy? They're going to pay you a third of what you make as a makeup artist.' But I wasn't happy. I was their beauty editor for five years, and about two years ago I went to Cover. I did take up hairdressing and makeup recently, just to make sure I don't get bored. [Laughs]

SKINCARE
When I started as Cover's Beauty Director, I had a really bad breakout. Like, really bad. And I remember my Creative Director was like, 'How can she have such bad skin and be a Beauty Director?' I was like, 'Fuck you!' [Laughs] At the same time, I was taking special B vitamins and somebody from the store told me about Ling. I think any girl that has hormonal issues with her skin should really know about that brand. I don't know if it was Ling or the vitamins, or both, but I don't dare stop using them now. I've never seen such a radical change in my skin, ever. The game changer for me was the Ling Dual-Moisturizer—you can also use it with any skin type because it's so light, but it has an oily texture to it.

Then I use the Oxygen Plasma Serum from Ling and that's really good. My rich moisturizer is the Dr. Brandt DNA Time Reversing Cream, which I've been using forever and it's priced like La Mer. I'd had it on my shelf for six, seven months, and when I started using it was magic. It's really expensive but the ingredients are great. It's so dry here [in Copenhagen]. You get a lot of redness and a lot of dry skin, so a rich cream helps. My SPF is Rudolph Care's. Rudolph is some of the best skincare in Denmark.

The Ling Cleanser is also good. I'm really into washing cloths. I have muslin cloths and you just put it them the washer and reuse them. I don't use a cloth every day because skin is sensitive but it gets everything off and you can massage your face. To exfoliate, I use fruit enzyme peels like Ren's Glycol Renewal Face Mask. I get red but it works. It gives so much moisture, too! Sometimes, I'll use this Karmameju Dry Brush. They make body brushes, but they made one for the face, too. You have to use it on dry skin, but I like it.

HAIR
When I shower in the winter, I always turn the water cold at the end. It's a regular shower, then body oil, and then cold water. And when I wash my hair, I use a shampoo formulated for itchy scalps and I never use conditioner. It's a French pharmacy brand, Ducray, and I like it because it's conditioning and doesn't strip my hair. When I style my hair, I use the Kevin Murphy Anti-Gravity Volumizing Spray and the Less is More Protein Spray. The Kevin Murphy can be a little too much, but when you mix it with the protein spray, it brings the volume a bit down. Then, I use a Remmington Blow Dryer with a small attachment for waves.

Cim Mahony cuts my hair. I always ask for a model haircut because models always have a simple length with layers—that's not the name for it, that's just what I call it. This way you can put in extensions and do whatever with it. It's the perfect cut. Sara Falkenberg, at Cim's studio, colored my hair last night. I never wanted to color it, I always liked it the way it was, but I don't like any redness in my hair. I'd rather it be a little green than red. The color [they add] is kind of like a pâté that we eat. [Laughs]

MAKEUP
My desert island beauty product has got to be a foundation, because skin is the most important for me. I have redness, so I use a lot of gold. Usually I mix two MAC Face and Body shades, because I have one for summer and one for winter. When I get really tired, I get pale, so I layer them—but it never looks cakey. Then I use Bareminerals Foundation or Youngblood—it's a makeup artist thing. They all use this combination of Face and Body and Youngblood. I use a powder from the Nars Steven Klein collaboration [ed note: no longer available] to make it a little less shiny. This is actually really good—the Face Contour Cream from & Other Stories. The L'Oreal Cushion, too... I get it a bit darker to put under the cheek. I'm very into contouring.

I don't really use eyeshadow. Sometimes at night I wear a metallic green, and I use this YSL 5 Couleurs Ready To Wear Scandal Collection sometimes on the middle of the lid. I read that Alexa Chung uses MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy and it's the most amazing color because it's brown and black. It really blends well around the eyes. If I'm going out, I'll use the Chanel Black Eyeliner but I'll always mix it with the Teddy just to make it a little more grounded. Then L'Oreal Millions Lashes, and I always buy three at a time. The brush is really good because you can make it look natural but layer it. Every Danish makeup artist uses it.

FRAGRANCE
This is no doubt the best perfume in the world—Christian Dior Bois d'Argent. It's primarily for men but it's amazing. Or the classic Dior Homme, and I wear that as well. It sounds a bit strange, but it's like having a man with you at all times. I also like the Bonpoint fragrance. Madonna uses that, and that's how I found it. I don't know about New York but in Denmark, all the Molecule fragrances are really big and I like to mix them. I always mix perfumes. My favorites to mix are the Dior Homme and maybe Chanel No 19—which in my opinion is the most underrated Chanel perfume ever.

NAILS
I go to the nail salon once a week. There's one place called Blow, but it's like 500kr for nails. Now I get them done at Classique Nails in Vesterbrogade. I always do a nude, Bubble Bath from OPI or Rouge from Chanel. I hate blue colors. That's the color of dead nails. When you're dead you'll have blue nails—why do you want that now? I don't get it."

—as told to ITG

Liv Winthers photographed by Tom Newton at her home in Copenhagen on August 12, 2016.

Everyone has their opinions about Botox, Restylane, Coolsculpting… Some are positive, some are hesitant, and at this site, we try to take a neutral position: Everything’s great if it works for you. If not, no worries—keep living your life. That said, there is some middle ground for anyone who’s ever had a momentary daydream about lip fillers and shrugged it off. Maybe injections aren’t totally right for you, but hey! You’ve got options! Mainly, a bevy of spa treatments and facials that can plump, slim, or smooth just about anything you want without needles or side effects. Are all these treatments a luxury? God yes. But if you were already considering an injection or two, they could sound like a bargain, particularly pre-big life event where the pictures are going to be memorialized in one of those DIY photo books for all eternity.

Got recommendations? Leave ‘em in the comments. Knowledge is power.

Fewer Wrinkles, No Botox

Take it from Victoria’s Secret Angel Martha Hunt: If you want plumper looking skin, an oxygen facial is the answer. She and the rest of her leggy brethren are said to see Mzia Shiman for the best facials, but word around town is that she only takes personal referrals. For the rest of us, there’s Intraceuticals, with spas practicing their technique all over the country. The oxygen is applied with light pressure, essentially pushing hydration and nutrients deep into the skin. Emerge brighter, more lifted, and sans any wrinkles for several days.

Facelift Minus The Needles

Meet Tracie Martyn, pioneer of the “Rescuplting Facial” (it’s actually trademarked by her) and facialist to Kate Winslet, Liv Tyler, and Lady Gaga among others. The key here is her micro current machine that encourages the muscles of the face to tighten and lift. With continued use, Martyn says her effects are long lasting, which means more define jawlines, less droopy eyelids, and higher cheekbones for everyone without any invasion procedures.

Similar but for the Biologique Recherché lovers out there, there’s Kariné Kazarian and her The Manual Lift Pinching treatment. She also works out the muscles in your face, but manually. This one is more like a stressful massage, but on your face. Kariné finishes off treatments by rolling liquid nitrogen over the face, essentially freezing the lift. And it feels amazing.

Coolsculpting But Quicker

It is ITG's policy to take any and all body advice from Brazilian ladies. In our neighborhood, that’s the women behind the Maria Bonita Salon. Their version of a lymphatic massage is legendary, promising to take inches and cellulite off your waist or thighs after one session. While the results might not be permanent, no need to try it for multiple sessions and wait several months to see what’s what.

If you don’t live near a Brazilian salon, check your local spa for a body wrap or shaping treatment, à la those you can find the Great Jones Spa or Daphne Spa in New York. Wraps can include targeted areas of firming massage plus heat that can help burn upwards of 1000 calories while you just lay there.

Plumper Lips Without Filler

You know that Ziip Nano Current Device we’ve been talking about? (You can win one in our Gift Guide right now! Don’t sleep on it!) Well, bless Melanie Simon, the founder, because she keeps adding new treatments to the device via the updatable app. Most recently, Ziip now offers a lip treatment—in which you hover the device over your lips for fuller, plumper results. Don't sleep on that either.

Photographed by Tom Newton. More product suggestions in the slideshow above.

"I'm Emma Hutton (@weequizzie) and I'm a copywriter. I live in Camberwell in southeast London, and I get to work from home, which is good and bad. It's good that I can structure my day to be more productive, plus I can hang out with my cat and I don't end up spending all my cash at coffee shops. Some days, though, I’m in my pajamas from the moment I sit at my desk until the moment my boyfriend comes home from work. I always look forward to ‘Freelancer Fridays’ with my best friend. We both work for ourselves so we sneak occasional Fridays where we meet up, watch movies, drink coffee and laugh until our faces hurt.

As somebody who works from home, I try to stick to a routine—it always starts with coffee. I don't, however, stick to many routines for beauty. Every day is different and our moods change, so I just go with how I feel. Some days I just need to wash my face and other days I need the whole shebang and that’s cool. As long as I spend some time taking care of me and checking in with what I need to feel good then that’s enough. The one thing I do consistently is apply Bio-Oil after every shower or bath, as a kindness to myself. I'm a hot cloth face washer so I've got a load of balms that I switch between... My favorites are the Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm, Sunday Riley Blue Moon Balm and Eve Lom’s Morning Time Cleanser. I also love a really good lip balm, but I want a matte finish. I've stuck to Nuxe Reve de Miel for a couple of years but I jumped on the By Terry Baume de Rose bandwagon lately and now I get it. It’s so good.

I found out MAC's Dare You Cremesheen is a good dupe for the lipstick Phoebe Waller-Bridge wears in Fleabag so I’ve been wearing that a lot lately. I love a good matte lipstick too–MAC’s All Fired Up is probably my favorite, or La Diva by Chanel—but they can kill your lips. Now that we're heading into winter I'm sticking with Dare You and a bit of Black Orchid by Tom Ford. Since I work from home I don’t feel as though I need to make that much of an effort makeup-wise and a lot of the time I don’t. But some days, I’ll whack on some Nars Schiap or Tom Ford Cherry Lush. Occasionally, you just have to."

First of all, CC cream is not really a thing. Like BB cream, which is equally as dubious, CC started out as a marketing tactic that blossomed into a beauty product trend cycle. It stands for Color Correcting. And while there are some CC products that are actually shaded appropriately for complexion concerns, most products labeled CC cream are really just tinted moisturizers. Remember when BB went from standing for Blemish Balm to the infinitely more vague Beauty Balm? The industry is lying to us daily, which would be frustrating, unless it sometimes gave us amazing products like It Cosmetics Full Coverage CC Cream. CC Cream is a scam, but this is easily one of the best coverage products of all time.

It's hard to pin down as either a foundation or a skincare product because it exists in between the two categories. It's a legitimate SPF 50, thanks to zinc oxide and titanium dioxide protecting your delicate face from broad spectrum damage. The formula is also extremely conditioning, but more like a hydrating serum than a moisturizer—the second inactive ingredient is snail secretion filtrate (!) which is brimming with things like hyaluronic acid and peptides. Your skin drinks it all up like Vitamin Water.

And the coverage. It's the exact kind of melty, dewy, Your Skin But Better™ product that you want come winter, when just the idea of going outside makes a layer of your face fall off. No caking by any means. The tube says full coverage, but we'll put it at medium for now, depending on how you blend it out. (Beautyblender recommended but not mandatory—it plays nicely with everything.)

Photographed by Tom Newton.

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The older I get, the more I start to realize the true meaning of the holiday season. Not gifts or matching pajama sets or Christmas movies.

It's the Office Holiday Party.

An office holiday party is a momentous time in any gal’s life because it is the perfect place to look your absolute best in front of your coworkers, or, at least markedly better than you did when you left your desk just hours before. My solution for this is an almost-sweaty looking shine. While everyone else is cold and shivering, I want my face to look like it’s perpetually stuck in summer. So let’s get to it!

DRESS
If you know me, you know I love an army green jacket. Any time, any place. There’s no greater feeling of loss than when my Alpha Industries bomber is at the dry cleaner's. Anyways, the most dressed-up version of that jacket is this one from Acne Studios. Oversized, ensuring that I don’t look like I tried that hard. (A lie.) The T by Alexander Wang dress underneath could easily be seen as classically feminine, but adding a sheer tank underneath (also by T) any simple dress can make the look a bit more comfortable and simultaneously remove the need for boob tape.

The shoes are simple gold pumps from Topshop and perhaps the most classically “festive” part of the look. Shoes are the way of saying “Don’t worry! I know where I am” when you’re out or at a party. A pair of fly heeled boots with jeans and a plain t-shirt when on a date is my way of saying, "Yes, I look better than you but, also, I don’t care." You know?

And the fishnets because hello? I’m a lady.

HAIR
This bun is a sleeker, tighter version of my typical everyday bun, plus it gives me an immediate facelift á la Bella Hadid. It’s pretty quick and simple to execute: flip your hair over and brush it into a high, tight ponytail, which you then secure into a simple messy topknot. I used Bumble and bumble Strong Finish Hold Hairspray to secure the flyaways.

Now, here is where the amp up really begins. I highlight with Haloscope in Quartz, Topaz, aaand Moonstone. Yes, I use all three shades of highlighter. They’re like children—how can you possibly love one more than the other? Answer: You can’t. I apply Topaz on the sides of my nose and blend outward for the sunburnt look and in a line on my cheekbone right above where I’ve just contoured. I follow up with Quartz down the bridge of my nose, on the cupid’s bow and in the corners of my eyes and finish off with Moonstone in a half halo above the Topaz towards my brow bone. Blend it all out with your fingers and boom. On eyes, a shimmery, peachy eyeshadow from my favorite Milani Palette in Florence and whatever mascara is not dried up in my drawer (in this case, a Diorshow sample I got who knows when). Finish the look with a heavy coat of the Glossier Lip Gloss over just-brushed lips and that’s it. Off to stunt with (on?) the colleagues.